"Healing Graces" Uses God's Energy to Heal

Healing Graces is a loving space where we invite God's energy to promote healing. During this process the body relaxes, allowing all systems to shift towards balance. When the body receives healing energy this can allow unresolved issues, previous trauma, physical and emotional pain to be released, leaving the individual feeling refreshed with a peaceful state of mind, body and spirit.

Healing Graces is located at Grace Church in room 15 on the first floor past the Small Assembly Room. Currently, it is staffed Tuesday evenings from 7 to 9 pm by Reiki Master Bill Tarter and Healing Touch student Candace Moxley. Contact Candace Moxley (513-376-7044, candy.moxley@icloud.com) to make an appointment.

The Healing Graces room is available to all healers to help make this a community blessing. All modalities are welcome. For scheduling, contact Candace.

This ministry is free, but donations to Grace Church are always welcome.

Healing Graces is another ministry that's part of the Spirituality and Healing Center at Grace.

Grace Church Celebrates Wholeness and Healing Wednesday Evenings

Grace Church's Wednesday evening Celebration of Wholeness and Healing combines traditional laying-on of hands with vibration therapy of African Drumming and the employment of the universal life force energy through the Japanese practice of Reiki. This healing service takes place the second Wednesday of every month. Drumming begins at 6:30 pm; a short formal service begins at 7 pm; it's over when everyone has left, sometimes as late as 10 pm.

While many are familiar with the traditional healing service found in many Episcopal churches, the combining of this with the non-traditional healing services is unique.

The drum has been used to heal people in tribal cultures for thousands of years. The history of The Drum and Sound Therapy is that tribal societies, both eastern and western have long recognized the connection between drum energy and their physical & emotional health. Many cultures from all over the world have used this tool and now we use the energy of drumming to help us make the changes we need in our body, mind and soul.  Sound Attunement Therapy or (SAT) is simply the use of vibration energy, in this case, The Drum. This vibration energy helps promote, heal and restore a person's natural health and bring the body, mind & spirit/emotions into harmony.

Many scientific studies attest to the power of the drum to reduce stress, promote pain management and boost the immune system to combat the spread of disease. Another interesting study suggests that drumming produces increased NK or natural killer cell activity in cancer patients. Modern science has documented that drumming significantly reduced feelings of stress, fear, anger, confusion, fatigue and depression among others. In addition, participants in the study experienced an enhanced sense of emotional and physical well being after exposure to drumming.

A Japanese healer first propounded Reiki in the early 1900. It combines the employment of the universal life force energy in a concentrated method to promote healing.

All three of these methods have many testimonials to their effectiveness.

Adapted from the press release announcing the first healing service on September 12, 2007.

A Healing Service?

Notes for a sermon by Hawley Todd, TSSF, Sunday,July 11, 2010, at a Celebration of Wholeness and Healing.

[Open with a prayer inviting the Holy Spirit to come and be present]

Good morning and thank you all for coming today.

Why are you here today?

Why did you come to Grace today?

[Take a few moments and see if anyone responds]

Episcopal Churches do not normally have a healing service as the principle worship service on a Sunday morning.

I would hazard the guess that we may be the only one.

Most will have either Holy Communion or Morning Prayer.

Some will have a Baptism Service and others may have a Confirmation Service.

I doubt though if there are many healing services being held this morning.

Again, why are you here today?

Behind many of the answers we can give, there is an expectation that we will somehow encounter the presence of God.

Holy Communion has been the principle liturgical service throughout Christian history because there is an expectation that Christ/God will be present in the bread and wine.

Reformation theology moved the presence of the Word/Jesus from the sacramental body and blood to the Word broken as the preached Word.

Protestant theology has an expectation that God will be encountered in the Word broken by the preacher.

Morning Prayer is based on this assumption – that we will encounter God in the homily.

So why have a healing service as our principle service on a Sunday morning?

The first reason is simply logistical.

We need a priest to have either Holy Communion or a Baptismal Service. We need a Bishop for Confirmation.

The other reasons are theological.

Please bear with me as I try to explain some of them.

First of all, both Holy Communion and Baptism are in their essence “healing services.” We don’t call them that but they are.

In our culture, we often confuse two words – healing and curing.

Curing is fixing an identified problem.

In the bio-medical paradigms, the problem is often seen in isolation and the cure is deemed to have occurred when the presenting symptoms of that problem have been resolved.

On the other hand, healing is the process of becoming the person God created us to be.

Healing, wholeness, and salvation are all intimately related.

One might say that healing in this life is becoming “whole” and healing in the next life is “salvation.”

Wholeness and healing happen as we invite God’s presence into our lives.

At its essence, prayers for healing are simply putting oneself in an attitude and position where one is open to receive God deeper into one’s life.

And healing is holistic. It involves the body, emotions, mind, and spirit of a person. And not only that, but it involves all of one’s relationships with others and creation.

With that understanding of healing, it is fairly obvious why I said Holy Communion and Baptism are healing rites.

So why have a healing service on Sunday mornings?

Healing is what Jesus did.

Read the Gospels again and pay attention to what Jesus is doing.

How did he spend his time and what did he do?

Healing is important to Jesus

1/5 to 1/3 of the Gospels describe Jesus involved in healing.

72 accounts, 41 distinct instances

3779 verses in the 4 gospels

727 relate specifically to healing

In Luke 9 Jesus sends the 12 out to do his work.

And what is that?

Luke 9:2 tells us explicitly: “and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal.”

Why have a healing service?

Because healing and proclaiming the kingdom of God were what Jesus was all about.

The early church knew and understood that wholeness and healing are at the heart of Christ’s teaching and ministry.

At least one reason to have a Celebration of Wholeness and Healing as our principle service on some Sunday mornings is to lift up the fact that Christianity offers healing and wholeness.

So what happens when someone comes forward for prayer?

Typically those offering prayer will ask if the person has any special concern or request.

Also the person will be asked if touch is okay. Please note that we do not need to touch in order for the prayer to be effective. So please feel free to convey your level of comfort to those praying.

The goal is for you to receive God, so whatever we can do to facilitate that, let us know!

Also please know your requests will be keep confidential.

We won’t share them with others and we won’t initiate conversation with you about your requests at a later time.

We will pray for whatever you requested.

Also, I normally pray for the person to be filled with the presence of God and that God will minister to that person in whatever ways he/she most needs God’s power, love, and grace.

In Holy Communion, the priest prays for the bread and wine to be filled/blessed by the Holy Spirit to be the real presence of Jesus. And we receive Jesus/ God’s presence in the bread and wine.

In a Healing Service, those praying ask the Holy Spirit to come and fill/bless the person receiving prayer. That may be embodied through the prayers, or through touch or through anointing with Holy Oil.

I love healing services.

I have seen God so clearly as a result of participating in these services.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God – Abba, Son, and Holy Spirit - is alive and present here with us NOW.

I don’t know what God will do in your life.

I do know that God will touch and bless you.

I do know that God seeks wholeness and life for us all.

That God desires us all to be restored in God’s image.

And I do know that I always need God’s healing presence and power in my life because I am not anyway near the person God created me to be.

In closing, your typical Sunday service homily talks about the readings.

We all have heard innumerable sermons on the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Jesus gave us the two commandments: to love God and to love our neighbors as our selves.

Most preachers stress the issue of who the good neighbor was and that we should be that person.

Yet what did the good Samaritan do?

He healed.

He bound up the persons wounds and he used oil and wine to heal.

Oil and wine were what people at that time used for healing.

Who is the true neighbor?

One who out of compassion lives and cares for those in need.

Why do we have a healing service on Sunday morning?

To show by what we do that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all strength, and with all our mind and that we love our neighbors as ourselves.

So come in simple faith, truly trusting in the unbounded love and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If there is any aspect of you that is not yet as God has intended you to be,

If you feel that any part of you needs to be restored to the image of God,

Come and receive God’s love and presence.

May Jesus bless us all!

Health & Wellness: Headaches

From the Grace Church Health and Wellness Committee, June 2008

In acknowledgement of National Headache Awareness Week (6/1 to 6/8), this Committee Offering focuses on headaches.

In December, we directed our attention, in part, to the notion of helplessness, observing that having pervasive feelings of helplessness can become a habit and even generalize from one arena of our lives to other arenas. Headaches tend to be one of the areas where many of us fall victim to dispirited helplessness. We think that we just have to suffer through them. Growing medical evidence suggests, however, that headaches can often be successfully managed through a combination of two techniques: (a) keeping a calendar to record headache occurrences and the circumstances (e.g., food consumed or activities participated in) that precede these episodes and (b) timely use of new therapies.

First, we will examine common types of headaches (e.g., tension, cluster and migraine). Then we will turn our attention to risk factors that have been assumed to be linked with headaches, but for which there is no sound evidence supporting these links.

Common Types of Headaches:

• · Tension Headaches are the most common headache. Such headaches are usually associated with diffuse, often mild to moderate pain on top of your head. Some suffers describe tension headaches as akin to having their heads squeezed in a tourniquet. Physicians acknowledge that while tension headache pain is occasionally severe, most often it is not a symptom of underlying disease. No spectrum of clear causes has been associated with tension headaches. Managing these headaches requires a balance of prevention informed by avoiding foods or activities that seem to trigger these headaches (identified as a result of good record keeping) and appropriate use of over the counter medications.
  
• · Cluster headaches, more common among men, are one of the most painful types of headache. People who experience this type of headache report that they occur in clusters or patterns. Such headaches may last as little as a few days to as much as several months. In between these clusters, suffers are generally headache free. This type of headache is fortunately uncommon, and not life-threatening. Aggressive management techniques, usually involving prescription medications, can often shorten the duration and lessen the pain.
  
• · Many sufferers regard migraine headaches as completely debilitating. Some times lasting from several hours to multiple days, and more common among women, when migraines strike going to a dark and very quite place to lie down can be the only respite. For some people, visual auras (flashes of light or blind spots) signal the onset of a migraine. A migraine may also be accompanied by other signs and symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. While there is still no cure, migraine management options have improved over the past few decades. The primary management techniques involve identifying and then avoiding triggers and taking appropriate medications early in the onset of the symptoms. Medications can help reduce the frequency of migraine and stop the pain once it has started.

In summary, with each of these types of headaches, the combination of careful self-monitoring, the right medicines and appropriate changes in lifestyle may make a tremendous difference for sufferers.

So far, we have focused on three types of headaches: Tension, Migraine and Cluster. The combination of careful self-monitoring, the right medicines and appropriate changes in lifestyle may make a tremendous difference for headache sufferers.

Now we will examine scientific evidence linking certain triggers to headache pain. Such scientific evidence generally comes from epidemiologic studies. These studies are great at linking risk factors to disease (e.g., confirming that high blood pressure is associated with an increased risk of heart disease). These types of studies generally don’t tell us why such links exist. The same general statements apply to headache research; the epidemiologic data may tell us, for instance, that certain dietary choices are associated with certain types of headaches but not what the mechanism is that is responsible for the headache.

Past medical beliefs linked hypertension to an increased risk of headaches. Recent studies, however, found no association. In fact, evidence has emerged suggesting that the relationship may be the opposite of what was first believed. It turns out that people with the highest measured pulse pressure (the difference between the systolic and diastolic blood pressure) had significantly fewer headaches than people who didn’t have high pulse pressures.

A recent national epidemiologic study of adolescents found that migraine headaches are more common in low-income families, more common among girls than in boys and among white teenagers than among black teenagers when there was no family history of such headaches. However, when one parent suffered from migraines, there was no association with family income. But when neither parent was afflicted with migraines, the likelihood that their teens would experience migraines went up as the family income went down. Trying to make sense of these findings, researchers observed that the correlations reported may not have been due to low income but to some other factors (not measured) that may also be associated with low family income. Moreover, the researchers acknowledged that migraines are a biological disease irrespective of family income. Stress has long been considered a risk factor for headaches and stress management techniques, such as those we have discussed in these newsletters in the past, should be helpful in managing migraines.

Finally, strong evidence suggests that for some people, physical exertion may be linked to headaches. Medical experts tell us that headaches that begin during physical exertion (e.g., exercise) and go away when you take a break could sometimes be a sign of heart disease, even if the person had no other symptoms of heart trouble. Such conditions are rare but should be paid attention to since the consequences could be life threatening if the problem is not recognized. Proper diagnosis and treatment is especially important in people 50 years or older and among any persons with risk factors for heart disease. The good news is that when such people with exertion-related headaches are found to have heart disease and are properly treated, the headaches abate.

Should you have concerns or want additional information about the material presented above, please contact your local health care provider, the Public Library, the Rector, or someone on the Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee (Chaired by Mrs. Florence Poyer, R.N.)

Prepared by: Walter S. Handy, Ph.D., member, Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee, WHandy@cinci.rr.com

Health & Wellness: Environmental Conservation

From the Grace Church Health and Wellness Committee, April 2008

April 22nd was Earth Day. That day, I heard an interesting discussion on environmental conservation. Two divergent Christian perspectives were presented. From one perspective, God is characterized as having created the earth and human intervention to preserve or conserve the earth is unnecessary. Alternatively, God created the earth and called man to conserve its resources. I support the second perspective.

Environmental Conservation begins at home. The principles undergirding these lifestyle choices are simple. Look for opportunities to recycle, reuse, repair rather than replace, and when disposal is necessary, do so properly.

· Recycling – The City of Cincinnati asks residents of single family dwellings to recycle their glass and clear plastic containers, paper products and aluminum cans. Residents are encouraged to recycle the following items: mixed office paper, magazines, cardboard, broken down telephone books, junk mail, brown grocery bags, computer paper, and paperboard (such as cereal boxes). Recycling bins are provided for free to these residents and are emptied weekly when set at the curb with your garbage. Recycling bins are also available to residents of dwellings of nine units or less.  Rumpke offers eight free drop-off sites within the City limits. Recycling these items performs two functions. It minimizes the need for manufacturing and packaging plants to buy additional raw material to make these products. In addition, it reduces the amount of solid waste that must be transported to an appropriate site and landfilled. Space within existing landfills is diminishing and siting new landfills for construction is becoming more difficult.

· Reuse - Donating your used car (truck, van, RV) for reuse is an option for us all. Several local agencies (e.g., St. Vincent de Paul, “Kars-4-kids.org,” Greater Cincinnati Television Educational Foundation, the Kidney Foundation) all accept donations of vehicles. Most of these agencies will come to your location and pick up the vehicle. All that is required are the keys and title. The vehicle does not have to be in good running order.

· Repair Rather than Replace: This wise saying used to be very common. Admittedly for some items like shoes, electronics and many appliances, this practice is more challenging than it was even ten years ago, but it is still possible. Consider repairing items before defaulting to replacing them. Consider durability of an item during its purchase.

· Dispose of Properly: Once an item clearly falls into the category of waste, its proper disposal is critical. Waste may be categorized as solid waste, construction and demolition debris (baseboard, wood products and concrete), hazardous waste (used motor oil, oil-based cleaning fluids, and turpentine), infectious waste (medical waste, used bandages, needles and other “sharps”) and yard waste (leaves and branches) . Solid waste is what we routinely put in our trash cans for weekly pickup at the curb. Included might be such items as food products, broken toys, and vacuum cleaner bags. Neither construction debris, hazardous waste, nor yard waste, should be put in your trash. Infectious waste may be placed in the “regular” waste stream but should be properly packaged to protect workers from injury.

Should you have concerns or want additional information about the material presented above, please contact your local health department, department of environmental services, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (www.USEPA.gov), the Rector, or someone on the Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee (Chaired by Mrs. Florence Poyer, R.N.)

Prepared by: Walter S. Handy, Ph.D., member, Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee

Health & Wellness: Counseling & Psychotherapy

From the Grace Church Health and Wellness Committee, April 2008

The theme for April is counseling and psychotherapy. This is also National Counseling Awareness Month. A number of important issues come to mind on this topic and between the first and second editions of this newsletter for the April, we will discuss them. Such issues include but are not limited to the following:

• Reasons to seek counseling or psychotherapy,
• What you can expect the first session,
• Training and experience of your counselor or therapist,
• The actual counseling process, including length of services, termination and possible referrals to other mental health professionals,
• Confidentiality,
• Exceptions to confidentiality and
• Setback prevention.

Reasons to Seek Counseling or Psychotherapy – Reasons for seeking counseling or psychotherapy generally fall into the category of experiencing persistently mild to moderate trouble getting through the activities of daily living as a consequence of emotional or psychological pain or confusion. An additional reason to seek counseling might be severe emotional trauma secondary to, for example, the death of a parent, spouse or child or extreme anxiety secondary to, for example, the diagnosis of a life threatening, or life altering disease. Clearly, these are also times to call upon prayer but counselors or therapists can often serve as adjuncts to such prayer.

What You Can Expect the First Session? - Your first session will likely include discussion of fees, frequency of meeting and most importantly, a time for you to describe the issues or feelings that bring you to counseling as well as how things will look or feel differently when you have your last session. Discussions may also extend to the history of the problem and what, if any, other strategies you have tried on your own, or with the help of other professionals, to address the problems. Some therapists or counselors may also ask you to describe the things in your life that are going well or that you feel really good about. Such questions are built upon the assumption that you have likely developed social skills that have allowed you to experience many successes, in spite of your current array of problems, and such skills will become important building blocks for the development of future social skills.

Your Counselor – You can expect your counselor or therapist to be either a psychologist, therapist, or clinical counselor, and have advanced graduate degrees (e.g., Masters or Ph.D.). They will have taken many courses in the study of human behavior, assessment and treatment of emotional problems and have, in addition, had many hours of counseling experience under the direct supervision of mental health professionals as a students-in-training before becoming licensed. You should feel free to inquire about your counselor's background and training.

The Process of Counseling - Your experience in counseling or psychotherapy will vary depending on the counselor, what issues and background you bring to the counseling process, and the methods of helping, or professional orientation, the therapist feels most confident will be of help to you. In general, the process involves you and potentially other members of your family, speaking about issues openly and honestly, while your therapist listens to you, asks questions, clarifies points of confusion and works with you (and your family) collaboratively to address your issues. You should expect to be able to discuss with your counselor any concerns you have, whether about your problems or about the process of counseling itself. While your counselor will help you meet your goals, he or she probably will not “tell you what to do”. Rather, you will both work to identify and build upon your strengths while remaining cognizant of problematic behaviors that may have become habitual.

More than likely, your counselor will focus on improving your behavioral skills and self-confidence in dealing with the “real life” challenges that you face. Your counselor is apt to ask you to try out new and more effective behaviors in these “real life” situations and then to report back with assessments about how effective the trial behavior was. Like an effective coach, your counselor will assist you in recognizing the dynamics of interpersonal interactions with specific attention being paid to your role or contribution in how these interactions turn out. Based upon your report, then your counselor may recommend that you “tweak” your behaviors some to achieve a more desired outcome. If, for instance, your usual tendencies are to dominate conversations with friends, family and/or colleagues, your counselor may suggest that you try to listen a little bit more than you are accustomed to doing. Alternatively, let’s say that you are seeking counseling because your supervisor has received complaints from your coworkers or customers that you constantly complain about work. The following scenario might take place. To help keep track of your progress, your counselor may ask you to keep detailed written logs or diaries of the frequencies (e.g., 5 times a day) and durations (e.g., 30 minutes) of troublesome behaviors (I complained about my job to my coworker 5 times every day – for 25 minutes) and your constructive behaviors (e.g., At work, I asked for additional work after completing my customary assignments 3 times last week). Over the course of the counseling experience, one measure of progress revealed by such logs or charting might then be a gradual reduction in the frequency and duration of complaining with a corresponding increase in frequency of positive behaviors.

If you do not feel satisfied with the progress that you are making in counseling, or with any aspect of the counseling process, share your concerns with your counselor. She or he needs to know your concerns in order to be helpful to you.

Confidentiality and Exceptions – Your personal information is kept secure and confidential by your counselor. Several exceptions exist: (a) you choose to sign a release of information authorization allowing your personal information to be shared with designated others (e.g., your medical doctor); (b) personal information shared with your counselor must, by law, be shared with appropriate others if your counselor assesses that you represent an imminent and credible threat or harm to yourself or others; (c) cases of suspected child or elder abuse must also be reported, and (d) on rare instances, courts can ­order or subpoena your records.

Setback Prevention – Changing established habits is difficult. Identifying situations that “trigger” ineffective behaviors or that inhibit prosocial behaviors can be a useful tool. Often the process of rehearsing constructive solutions and/or developing a plan to address problematic situations can prevent tendencies to revert to destructive behavioral solutions.

Should you have concerns or want additional information about the material presented above, please contact your local mental health care provider, the Public Library, the Rector, or someone on the Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee (Chaired by Mrs. Florence Poyer, R.N.)

Prepared by: Walter S. Handy, Ph.D., member, Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee

Health & Wellness: Preventing Sexually Transmitted Infection

From the Grace Church Health and Wellness Committee, February 2008

The theme for February is sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention. This is a mature subject. Discussions here are not intended for children but they may become the impetus for such discussions between parents and their preadolescent, adolescent and young adults.

As Christians we likely believe that the cornerstone principles of STI prevention are abstinence and fidelity. That is, sexual activity should be postponed until after marriage and married couples should be faithful to one another. The strong forces of mutual attraction, however, test and sometime compromise these principles. Years ago, the wide availability of broad spectrum antibiotics usually provided effective treatment to the STIs that sometimes resulted from sexual behavior.

Times have changed! As a society, we wait longer before we get married. Very intimate sexual behaviors, the kinds that were traditionally reserved for adults, are being talked about and practiced by our youth; and, among the array of infections now transmissible through sexual behaviors are some that are all but resistant to the antibiotics that once cured these infections and other infections (Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)) that have no cure. HIV infections will eventually (sometimes taking 10 years or more) result in the development of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Over time, AIDS compromises the body’s immune system and its ability to fight infections and cancers. While treatments exist, they only delay this deterioration of the body’s immune system and death is usually the final result. Finally, the number and diversity of injection drug users has expanded. These rather radical changes require that we expand our toolbox of STI prevention strategies.

A Matter of Definition – Where once we thought we knew what abstinence meant, it is not so clear anymore. Virginity, once the hallmark of abstinence is now being redefined. Some experts say that in attempt to preserve their technical “virginity,” some young people are foregoing the act of “making love” but engaging in sexual behaviors with partners that are physically intimate and place these youth and young adults at great risk for developing STIs.

Where are the Risks of Being Infected with HIV?

• Sexual Behaviors: The majority of HIV infections are transmitted while engaging in unprotected sexual behaviors. Transmission of the virus can occur when infected sexual fluids from one partner come into contact with the intimate mucous membranes of another.
• Infected Blood or Blood Products: Injection drug users and recipients of blood transfusions are at risk. Transfusion recipients are at minimal risk because the vast majority of blood and blood products are checked for HIV.
• Mother-to-child Transmission: Mothers infected with HIV can infect their child in utero during pregnancy and at childbirth. Medical personnel can significantly reduce the incidence of these infections by a combination of drug treatment, caesarian section deliveries and telling the mother not to breast feed her infant.

Prevention is really the only practical solution to these infections. If your behaviors match even one of the common risks for developing HIV or other STI, get tested. If you are not sexually active and don’t use injection drugs, delay becoming sexually active until you are older and/or married. If you are sexually active and don’t use injection drugs, take steps to PROTECT YOURSELF.

So far, we have noted that sometimes the cornerstone principles of STI prevention: abstinence and fidelity, are not enough. Societal changes include delayed first marriages and youth becoming sexually active at earlier ages. Public health threats as a consequence of risky behaviors include: increasing intravenous drug abuse and infections such as the deadly Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Those who are sexually active and not married need to take aggressive steps to prevent STIs and stay SAFE.

Safe Sex Practices:

• Sexual Abstinence remains the safest sex practice. Wikipedia (www/Wikipedia.com), a frequently consulted “online” information source, defines sexual abstinence as “the practice of voluntarily refraining from some or all aspects of sexual activity.” There should be no physical contact of a sexual nature, obviously including but not limited to “making love”.
• Non-Penetrative Sexual Behaviors (AKA “Outercourse”) such as massage, clothed rubbing of bodies together, non-intimate touching, hugging and kissing, shared sexual fantasies are all safe from risks of becoming infected with an STI.
• Physical Barriers – The proper and obsessive use of such physical barriers as latex condoms (for men and for women) have proven to be effective in preventing the transmission of sexually transmitted infections.
• Engaging in Sexual Behavior with only one partner – again, the ideal here is for each member of a couple planning to be sexually active, not to have engaged in intimate sexual behavior with any other person.

Safe Social Practices: If you are thinking about or have already become sexually active, be prepared to:

• Tell your partner if, when, where and how you want to be touched or don’t want to be touched.
• Mutually share your sex histories and get tested - insist that your partner get tested for STIs as well then share your results with each other.
• Get regular physical check-ups, including checks for infections.
• Insist on always following safe sexual behavior practices.
• Acknowledge that physical intimacy finds its best expression in stable, committed, loving relationships that include not only sexual behaviors, but also creativity, mutual respect, power sharing, tolerance, forgiveness, problem-solving, mutual sharing and trust.

Should you have concerns or want additional information about the material presented above, please contact your local health care provider, the Public Library, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov), the Rector, or someone on the Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee (Chaired by Mrs. Florence Poyer, R.N.)

Prepared by: Walter S. Handy, Ph.D., member, Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee.

Health & Wellness: Death & Dying

From the Grace Church Health and Wellness Committee, February 2008

Chronic diseases require us to adapt our lifestyles, endure the discomfort and pain associated with the disease and its treatments, and sometimes, consider the likelihood of death. Some health conditions reach the point where a “cure” is no longer possible and death is imminent. In these circumstances, organizations offering Hospice Care can help to assure that maximal quality of life is achieved during the final days and weeks. Your Rector and/or health practitioner are the best sources of information about how to prepare for death.

Coping with Death: Irrespective of our age, the process of dying often involves medical, familial, psychosocial and spiritual as well as financial demands and conflicts. Successfully addressing these demands and conflicts requires active coping strategies that may outpace our personal resources. Hospice represents a continuum of end-of-life care that “provides comfort and support for persons with life-limiting conditions as well as their families. Hospice care aims to make the person comfortable and relieve their symptoms and pain for the entire length of their illness” (www.caringinfo.org).

Effective Pain Management is a critical element of Hospice Care. We have all experienced many types of pain, from the pain of a sprained ankle, achy joints, a headache, an infected tooth or in the lower back. Some psychosocial disorders such as depression, moderate to severe anxiety, and other emotional problems can cause pain or they can make the experience of existing pain worse. While we have learned to cope with most of these kinds of pain with our existing resources, some diseases such as cancers cause pain that exceed our personal abilities to cope. Hospice care is likely to be of benefit here. For example, experts tell us that with proper medical intervention greater than 85% of cancer pain can be controlled. Effective pain management results from the development and application of a pain management treatment plan. Such a plan often involves the combination of treatments and medications and a proven evaluation plan that tells the team what is and what is not effectively controlling the pain. Adjustments can then be made as needed. Cancer patients and health care professionals should work together to develop this plan - the cornerstone of effective pain management.

· Hospice may also make the following types of care available, as needed:

o Emotional and psychosocial support for the patient during the course of dying.

o Specific Prayer – asking God to help you and your team manage the pain and symptoms associated with your disease(s) and prayer for acceptance of conditions you are powerless to change. Requesting the prayer intercession of others for your comfort.

o Marshalling extra familial support by teaching family members critical skills to help them to care for you.

o Providing short-term inpatient care to help you and your family manage pain and symptoms when they overwhelm your ability to manage them at home or if family caregivers need respite.

o Providing grief support and counseling for loved ones.

Should you have concerns or want additional information about the material presented above, please contact your local health care provider, the Rector, or someone on the Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee (chaired by Mrs. Florence Poyer, R.N.)

Prepared by: Walter S. Handy, Ph.D., member, Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee

Health & Wellness: Illness & Aging

From the Grace Church Health and Wellness Committee, January 2008

The theme for January is coping with illness and aging. Chronic diseases often require us to adapt our lifestyles, endure the discomfort, pain and/or disabilities associated with the disease and its treatments, or consider the likelihood of death. Your Rector and/or health practitioner are the best sources of information about how to get and stay prepared for a healthy life.

Coping with Life’s Changes: Irrespective of our age, the business of living often requires struggles with internal and or external demands, conflicts and potentially distressing feelings. Successfully addressing these struggles requires us to cope, to actively manage these demands, conflicts and feelings with resources that exceed those that are routinely available to us. While some of us may be more successful at coping with certain types of situational demands than others, behavioral scientists tend to agree that coping is a learned skill. The list presented below is not a cookbook; no one or combination of these strategies is necessarily effective for each of us in the variety of circumstances we face.

Optional Coping Strategies:

• Gathering additional information - If you are newly diagnosed with diabetes, go to the library or bookstore and obtain books discussing the disease process, its prevention and treatment or, if you are about to undergo a biopsy of a suspicious “growth” find out more from your physician or other credible source of information about what you may need to do before you get to the hospital, exactly what the biopsy procedure entails and what, if any, recovery issues you may face.
• Praying – ask God (through direct prayer) to heal you where you and your medical specialists cannot and/or pray for acceptance of conditions you are powerless to change. Asking for the prayer intercession of others for your healing.
• Marshalling extra social support - Asking for words of encouragement from members of family, church and friendship circles. Physical touch from caring others often soothes the soul and bolsters morale when words fail.
• Maintaining a sense of optimism - Practice disputing “self-statements” that suggest that a medical setback is singularly your fault, pervasive in every arena of your life and permanent (for all time).
• Learning to tolerate, endure or accept the health condition – accepting that a physically disfiguring, lifestyle altering, or even an “end stage” circumstance is not your fault.
• Adopting more health promoting behaviors – Sometimes more focus on the practice of health promoting behaviors (e.g., improving diet and exercise) can reverse or slow the progression of a dangerous health condition.
• Enlisting the assistance of additional health care professionals – some health conditions reach the point where a “cure” is no longer possible and death is imminent. In these circumstances, organizations offering Hospice Care can help to assure that maximal quality of life is achieved during the final days and weeks.

Should you have concerns or want additional information about the material presented above, please contact your local mental health care provider, the Rector, or someone on the Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee (Chaired by Mrs. Florence Poyer, R.N.)

Prepared by: Walter S. Handy, Ph.D., Member, Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee

Health & Wellness: Self-Regulation & Optimism

From the Grace Church Health and Wellness Committee, December 2007

The liturgical themes for December are repentance, preparation, anticipation and hope. The Committee Offerings for the month will focus on self-regulation, as a form of preparation, and optimism, as a component of hope.

Whether the health topic is immunization, diabetes prevention, stress management, fitness or food safety, if you believe that you can take appropriate action to prevent or to solve a problem, then you are more likely to do so. Such a belief in one’s adaptive abilities to effect a change in a situation is not an illusion or an unrealistic sense of optimism. Such beliefs are based on experience.

A good self-regulatory strategy combined with strong experience-based beliefs in that strategy for achieving a healthy lifestyle together with being optimistic that the plan will work are the three key elements of any preparation. Your Rector and/or health practitioner are the best sources of information about how to get and stay prepared for a healthy life.

Self-Regulation: Health promotion literature is replete with research supporting the importance of self-regulation in living a healthy lifestyle. Adopting behaviors consistent with a healthy lifestyle and refraining from health-threatening behaviors is difficult. Temptations abound to forgo that brisk walk after dinner and instead to kick-back in front of the T.V. and watch Monday Night Football. Experts say that the likelihood that we will adopt a health-promoting behavior (such as physical exercise) or change a detrimental habit (such as quitting smoking) rests on three sets of beliefs: (a) the belief that my “unhealthful behaviors” are putting me at risk ("My risk of developing heart disease because of my sedentary lifestyle is above average"), (b) the belief that adopting behavioral change would reduce the risk ("If I begin and maintain an exercise program, I will reduce my risk"), and perhaps most importantly for this discussion (c) the belief that I am capable of adopting a health-promoting behavior or refraining from a risky habit.

• Self-Regulatory (Goal Setting) Strategies– most experts agree that goal setting is an integral part of self-regulation. Key strategies for successful self-regulation are as follows:
• Establish goals for desired self-regulatory outcomes.
• Subdivide long-term goals into short-term subgoals.
• View the goals as reasonable and commit to attempt to attain them. Provide verbal encouragement (e.g., "You can do this.") to yourself to help in staying motivated to accomplish their goals. Encourage others to provide similar verbal encouragements to you.
• Monitor your own progress toward goal achievement. Keep written records.
• Develop strategies for coping with difficulties (e.g., set-backs and plateaus). Don’t be afraid to re-evaluate goals and/or timelines.
• Periodically reevaluate your own capabilities. The perception of progress will often strengthen your belief in your own efficacy. This is critical for continued motivation and self-regulation.

Optimism: Increasingly, articles in the popular press and health journals point to depression as a significant risk factor for premature death when paired with chronic disease (e.g., diabetes). Chronic diseases are health conditions that require us to adapt our lifestyles, potentially to disabilities associated with the disease or to the undesirable side effects of the treatments. So it is no surprise that such conditions are often paired with personal, pervasive and sometimes permanent feelings of despair, helplessness and hopelessness. Experts agree that the most damaging effect of such feelings and self-talk is the loss of the will to act. As we discussed earlier this month, if you believe that you can take appropriate action to prevent or to solve a problem, then you are more likely to do so. If you are optimistic that your behavioral efforts to achieve optimum health will work, you are more likely to persist in the face of early setbacks and disappointments. Your Rector and/or health practitioner are the best sources of information about how to get and stay prepared for a healthy life.

• Learning to be Helpless: Behavioral scientists note that having pervasive feelings of helplessness can become a habit and even generalize from one arena of our lives (e.g., school or work) to other arenas (e.g., our self-care). Over time we can learn to talk to our selves using pessimistic words. We sometimes learn such pessimistic “self-talk” from our parents, teachers and perhaps others in positions of authority over us after we have had a setback or failed to reach a desired goal (e.g., I failed that test; I am not a good student; I have never been a good student; I will always be a poor student; I not a very good worker either; I cannot keep track of the medicines I am supposed to take; I am just not a very worthwhile person; All the ills that befall me are my fault!). Do you ever catch yourself saying these kinds of words to yourself? Do such words promote action on your part or rather do they promote paralysis? Learning to be helpless can be unlearned!
  
• Learning to be Optimistic: Experts say that a sense of optimism leading to a different type of self-talk can inoculate us against feelings of helplessness. Such learnings have a number of key components including:
• Accept that “failures” and/or negative occurrences are a part of the act of living;
• Forgive yourself and or seek forgiveness from others for your shortcomings;
• Practice disputing “self-statements” that suggest that a setback is singularly your fault, pervasive in every arena of your life and permanent (for all time).
• If you find yourself in a “loop” of self-deprecating statements (personal “put-downs”), say out loud to yourself (or sub vocalize) the word, STOP!
• Write down a list of the concerns underpinning your personal “put-downs” for further consideration at some specific appointed time in the future.
• Allow yourself the freedom to act. Over time, optimistic self-statements will become a habit. Such optimism taken together with the self-regulation discussed earlier this month will promote the adoption and maintenance of health-promoting behavior and avoidance of risky habits.

Should you have concerns or want additional information about the material presented above, please contact your local mental health care provider, the Rector, or someone on the Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee (Chaired by Mrs. Florence Poyer, R.N.)

Prepared by: Walter S. Handy, Ph.D., Member, Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee

Health & Wellness: Stress Management

From the Grace Church Health and Wellness Committee, November 2007

Your doctor and/or mental health practitioner is the best source of information about how stress may be affecting your health.

Stressful Life Events: As September’s discussion of different forms of exercise revealed, some forms of stress can actually be beneficial to our health. Just as some levels or intensities of physical exercise can be excessively stressful to some of us and not stressful enough for others of us, so too are the effects of the same life events a matter of individual differences in their effects on our mental and physical health. With the exception of pain and disease, the majority of life events that we face are only stressful to us as a consequence of how we interpret or categorize them. For some of us promotions at work, birth of a child, purchasing a new home or relocating to a new city may be seen as positive stressors and adding anticipation and excitement to life. To others the same life events may be viewed with dread and anxiety because these same life events cause us to adopt new behaviors, systems, habits and approaches to life and are thus associated with confrontation, frustration and sorrow.

Our goal here is not to eliminate stress but to learn how to manage it and how to use it to help us. Not having enough stress can leave us feeling bored. Conversely, excessive and unrelieved stress may leave us feeling overwhelmed, sleeping poorly and may even predispose us to having a heart attack. Our challenge is to find the optimal level of stress which will individually motivate but not overwhelm each of us.

Stress: Its many sources and some management strategies - Life events and our associations to them come in an infinite variety. Effective management of our exposure to and interpretation of these live events is essential if we are to avoid the harmful psychological and physical effects of excessive and unrelieved stress. However, all effective stress management strategies require work toward change: changing the source of stress and/or changing our reaction to it.

• · Become aware of your personal stressful life events and your emotional and physical reactions to them.
• · Pray early and often (e.g., "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.")
• · Learn and practice moderating your emotional and physical reactions to stress.
• · Exercise regularly, eat in moderation and maintain your ideal weight.
• · Limit the responsibilities you take on particularly during holiday seasons that are already overloaded with your own expectations and the expectations of others.
• · Develop and maintain mutually supportive friendships.

Should you have concerns or want additional information about the material presented above, please contact your local health care provider, public health department, mental health center or someone on the Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee. This Committee is chaired by Mrs. Florence Poyer, R.N.

Prepared by: Walter S. Handy, Ph.D.. Member, Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee

Health & Wellness: Food Safety

From the Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee, November 2007

With Thanksgiving around the corner, the theme for the second half of November is Food Safety. Your local health department is the best source of information about food safety and how it may be affecting your health.

The goal of safe food handling and preparation is the prevention of foodborne illnesses. Such illnesses (Salmonellosis, Campylobacteriosis or E. coli infection.) result when you eat foods contaminated during production, preparation or storage, by harmful organisms, such as bacteria, parasites or viruses. The most common signs and symptoms of such illnesses are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. Fortunately, most cases of foodborne illness are mild and can be treated at home by replacing lost fluids and electrolytes. More serious cases may be treated in a hospital where patients are given fluids through a vein.

• Food Types: Some foods (e.g., fruits, custards, gravies, vegetables, precooked foods, raw fish, ground beef, pork, shellfish, veal, poultry and poultry products) are more potentially hazardous than other foods (e.g., breads, pastries, pastas and other ready-to-eat foods).
  
• Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a system, promoted by the Food and Drug Administration, to prevent foodborne illnesses. The system, in brief, is designed to (a) identify the greatest hazards to food safety, (b) establish maximum or minimum limits (e.g., temperature) needed to reduce risk, and (c) adopt corrective actions as needed,
  
• Safe Food Handling Practices: We can adopt many of the Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points principles in our homes and churches.
• Avoid buying packages with tears or leaks.
• Keep raw beef, pork and poultry separate from other foods.
• Cool large volumes of food in several small containers within the refrigerator.
• Wash your hands, countertops, sinks, cutting boards, tables and utensils before and after handling different foods.
• Cook foods to appropriate temperature. Casseroles, beef, veal, pork and lamb should be cooked to at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Poultry should be cooked to minimum internal temperatures of 165 degrees. Raw fish, shellfish, and veal should be cooked to at least 145 degrees. Fruits, vegetables and precooked foods should be cooked to at least 135 degrees.
• To make sure you can enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers:
• Food should never be left out more than two hours, such as after Thanksgiving dinner.
• Leftover foods must be reheated to 165 degrees for 15 seconds.
• Cool food from 135 degrees to 70 degrees in no more than 2 hours and continue to cool from 70 degrees to 41 degrees in no more than 4 hours - within the refrigerator.
• When ready for serving, keep cold foods cold (40 degrees or colder) and hot foods hot (135 degrees or hotter), but NEVER at room temperature.
• Potentially hazardous foods should be date marked with the expiration date no later than 6 days from the date the item was prepared or the container opened.

Should you have concerns or want additional information about the material presented above, please contact your local public health department, environmental health department of a local university, or someone on the Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee. This Committee is chaired by Mrs. Florence Poyer, R.N.

Prepared by: Walter S. Handy, Ph.D., Member, Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee . (with the assistance of Environmental Health staff at the Cincinnati Health Department)

Health & Wellness: Obesity and Diabetes

From the Grace Church Health and Wellness Committee, October 2007

The themes for October are obesity and diabetes. Maintaining a sedentary lifestyle and failure to control food portion size are two key elements in the development of obesity and Type 2 diabetes (the most common form of diabetes). Your doctor is the best source of information about which form of diabetes you may be at risk for.

• Obesity: It is almost impossible to turn on the television or open a magazine or newspaper today and not be confronted by a drug, medical procedure or device targeted to fight obesity. But what is it? Simply put, obesity is an unhealthy level of body fat. Body mass index, or BMI, is a reliable measure of our body fat or our weight relative to our height and a useful tool in evaluating the extent to which we may be underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese. While generally reliable, the BMI has at least two limitations: (a) It may overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build; and (b) It may underestimate body fat in older persons and others who have lost muscle mass. A number of adverse health conditions are contributed to by being overweight or obese including: diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.

• Diabetes: Type 2 diabetes develops over time when either your body does not produce enough insulin in your blood or your cells ignore the insulin. The food we eat is broken down into glucose. Glucose is a simple sugar that is the main source of energy for our body's cells. Our cells cannot use glucose without insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas. Insulin helps the cells take in glucose and convert it to energy. Being obese or overweight affects the way insulin works in your body. Extra fat tissue that is associated with obesity can make your body resistant to the action of insulin, but exercise helps insulin work well. As a result of this growing insulin resistance and increasing levels of glucose in the blood, your body begins overproducing insulin to regulate glucose levels. Over time your body can no longer keep these levels (insulin and glucose) in a normal range. Eventually this inability to achieve balance between insulin and glucose results in higher, unhealthy glucose levels, and ultimately leads to the development of Type 2 diabetes.

Connections: While obesity does increase the risk of developing diabetes, diabetes involves more than being obese. Only 5 – 10 percent of obese people are diabetic, and many diabetics are not obese. For most people, Type 2 diabetes is strongly associated with family history or genetics. Once diabetes has developed, weight loss can help but may not cure the diabetes. Finally, once developed, diabetes becomes a part of a larger group of health conditions referred to as the metabolic syndrome.

To summarize:

• Obesity is an unhealthy level of body fat and
• As a result of lifestyle choices and our family histories, more and more of us are developing Type 2 diabetes. Developing Type 2 diabetes does not happen suddenly, but rather is a result of a series of unhealthy changes in how our bodies process glucose (a simple sugar that is the main source of energy for our body's cells). Once developed, diabetes becomes a part of a larger group of health conditions referred to as the metabolic syndrome.

Your doctor is the best source of information about which medical conditions associated with metabolic syndrome you may be at risk for (e.g., heart disease, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes – all related to plaque buildups in artery walls).

• Metabolic Syndrome is defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program as the presence of any three of the following conditions: (a) excess fat around the waist, (b) high levels of triglycerides, (c) low levels of HDL, or "good," cholesterol, (d) high blood pressure (130/85 mm Hg or higher), or (e) high fasting blood glucose levels. All of these conditions put the heart at significant risk. Knowing your “numbers” (cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose), discussing them with your doctor, and taking appropriate actions are keys to preventing heart disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that just 7 percent of patients with diabetes are getting all the medical treatments they need.

• Preventing or Delaying Diabetes: Type 2 diabetes develops when either the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin (insulin resistance). Being overweight and/or sedentary negatively affects the way insulin works in our bodies. Eventually the body’s inability to achieve balance between insulin and glucose results in higher, unhealthy glucose and insulin levels, and leads to the development of Type 2 diabetes.

• · Glucose levels change all of the time, in response to the amount and type of food we eat and the intensity and duration of our activities. Those of us with blood glucose levels that are consistently higher than normal but not yet in the diabetic range are often referred to as “pre-diabetic.” Pre-diabetics usually have no symptoms. Studies conducted by the National Institutes of Health indicate that pre-diabetes (insulin resistance) can, in some cases, be reversed and in other cases, delayed. Key action steps in reaching these goals include: (a) increasing physical activity (helping your muscle cells use blood glucose), (b) eating a low-fat, low-calorie diet, (c) achieving optimum weight, and (d) controlling blood pressure and cholesterol.

Should you have concerns or want additional information about the material presented above, please contact your local health care provider, public health department or someone on the Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee. This Committee is chaired by Mrs. Florence Poyer, R.N.

Prepared by: Walter S. Handy, Ph.D., Member, Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee

Health & Wellness: Fitness

From the Grace Church Health and Wellness Committee, September 2007

The theme for September is physical activity. In a recent published report, nearly one quarter of adults indicated no leisure-time activity at all and less than one half of adults met 1995 American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) guidelines for physical activity. The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association (AHA) recently updated their recommendations regarding physical activity for adults. In brief, they reaffirmed their belief, based upon research, that regular physical activity is another key element to good health. They also recommended that more strenuous activity more frequently, is even better for your health than had been a part of their earlier recommendations.

Specifically, ACSM and AHA recommend that “all healthy adults aged 18 to 65 years need moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity for a minimum of 30 minutes on five days each week or vigorous-intensity aerobic activity for a minimum of 20 minutes on three days each week.”

Regular physical activity should consist of both aerobic exercise (e.g., brisk walking, swimming, biking, jogging, or dancing) and resistance exercise (e.g., weight training, push-ups, or elastic bands).

This is not an all vs. nothing-at-all proposition. The ACSM and AHA recognize that combinations of these recommendations are also acceptable. For instance, you might choose to meet these recommendations by walking briskly, biking or doing any other activity that noticeably increases your heart rate and breathing for a minimum of 30 minutes twice a week and then jogging for 20 minutes, or doing another activity that causes you to breath rapidly and substantially increases your heart rate on two other days of the same week. Your doctor and other health care providers are the best sources of information about which forms of regular physical activity, how often and how much are best for you and/or your child.

Let us look more closely at the similarities and differences, benefits and risks of aerobic exercises and strength-building exercises.

• Aerobic Exercise: In general, aerobic exercises are ones that involve the use of major muscle groups (e.g., legs, back and arms), engaged in continuously for longer periods of time (minimum of 20 minutes). Walking, jogging, biking, rowing, swimming at an intensity that noticeably or substantially increases your heart rate and breathing. Among the recognized benefits of doing regular aerobic exercise are: strengthening the muscles involved in breathing, strengthening and enlarging the heart muscle, and toning muscles throughout the body. Musculoskeletal injury (e.g., pulled or strained muscle) is the most probable risk associated with aerobic exercises (e.g., leisure time sports). A second risk, that of sudden cardiac arrest, has a very low probability in generally healthy adults while engaging in moderate intensity exercises.
  
• ·Resistance Exercise: Resistance exercises repeatedly (e.g., 8 – 12 repetitions) pit the muscles against a weight or force. It is recommended that 8 – 10 different exercises be performed on two or more non-consecutive days each week using the major muscles of the body. Over time, the muscles are likely to respond to the extra workload by getting stronger and increasing endurance. Resistance or muscle strengthening activities include a progressive weight training program, weight bearing calisthenics, stair climbing, and similar resistance exercises that use the major muscle groups. Musculoskeletal injury (e.g., pulled or strained muscle) is the most probable risk associated with resistance exercises as well. It is important to pay attention to safety, good posture and body positioning (form) to reduce the risk of injury.

Should you have concerns or want additional information about the material presented above, please contact your local health care provider, public health department or someone on the Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee. This Committee is chaired by Mrs. Florence Poyer, R.N.

Prepared by: Walter S. Handy, Ph.D., Member, Grace Episcopal Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee

Health & Wellness: Immunization

From the Grace Church Health and Wellness Committee, August 2007

Disease prevention is the key to public health. We are constantly concerned about our own health and the health and safety of our children. We try to take prudent steps to protect ourselves and our families. For instance, we use seatbelts for ourselves and our children when traveling in motor vehicles. Immunizations or vaccines also prevent us from developing illnesses caused by infectious and potentially deadly diseases by helping prepare our bodies to fight these diseases.

Preschool, kindergarten and elementary school children’s health records are often checked to assure that incoming children have received the proper childhood immunizations (e.g., diphtheria, Pertussis and Chick pox). Children with incomplete immunizations may be excluded from attending school until their immunizations are up to date. Similarly, each fall, senior citizens are encouraged to obtain flu vaccinations. Again, each of these vaccines helps to prepare our bodies to fight these diseases. Vaccines prevent disease in the people who receive them and protect those who come into contact with unvaccinated individuals. It is always better to do whatever possible to prevent a disease than to have to treat it.

Health professionals agree that in order for these immunizations to have maximum benefit, they should be administered on a recommended schedule. Your doctor and other health care providers are the best sources of information about which immunizations are best for you and/or your child and when the immunization should be administered. In the text below, the Health and Wellness Committee offers some guideline reminders.

• Infants, preschoolers, and kindergarteners (Ages birth through 6 years) should receive the recommended series of vaccines for Hepatitis B (at birth), Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis, Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib), Inactivated Poliovirus (first at two months), Measles, Mumps and Rubella, and Vericella (first at one year). Any of these vaccines that are not administered at the recommended age should be administered at any visit to the doctor when indicated and feasible.
• Elementary school children through high school adolescents may need to receive vaccines for Hepatitis B, Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis, Inactivated Poliovirus and Vericella particularly if they were not previously vaccinated. Recommended vaccines for children and adolescents include vaccines for meningitis (one dose) and Human Papillomavirus (3 doses) as well as booster doses for Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis at age 11-12 years.
• Adults often believe that vaccines to prevent diseases are just for children. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends booster shots for Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis for those of us ages 19 through 64, Human Papillomavirus vaccines (3 doses) for women 19 – 49 years, and vaccines for Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Vericella, Influenza, Pneumocaccal, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis, B and Meningococcal for all adults who either (a) lack documentation of vaccination or have no evidence of prior infection, or (b) have some other risk factor such as medical condition, occupation or lifestyle.

Again, it is always better to do whatever possible to prevent a disease than to have to treat it.

Should you have concerns or want additional information about the material presented above, please contact your local health care provider or public health department. You may also choose to contact someone on the Health and Wellness Ministry Committee. This Committee is chaired by Mrs. Florence Poyer.

Prepared by: Walter S. Handy, Ph.D., Member, Grace Church Health and Wellness Ministry Committee